So much for Tim Tebow’s expanded role this week.
Pregame buzz the Jets planned to finally — at long last — open up the Tebow playbook that coach Rex Ryan had talked about all offseason turned out to be mostly hot air last night in a 23-17 loss to the unbeaten Texans at MetLife Stadium.
Tebow was so excited going in that he tweeted a reference to it being the 666th game in the history of “Monday Night Football” — 666 is the mark of the devil in the Book of Revelations — and how he planned to “give God all the glory.”
What actually happened was much less dramatic.
Tebow’s snaps on offense increased, but six plays (one of them as a decoy running back) could hardly be considered unleashing the Wildcat in a game when the desperate Jets tried just about every other trick in their bag to pull out of what felt like a season spiral following last week’s 34-0 home disaster against the 49ers.
The night started so promisingly for Tebow, too, as he threw a perfect 40-yard spiral to newly signed wideout Jason Hill on the Jets’ second possession of the game that just barely eluded Hill’s grasp.
Tebow followed that by converting a fake punt deep in Jets territory in the second quarter and scrambled 13 yards to the Houston 3-yard line in the third quarter, but those proved to be merely teases as Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano — much as they had all season — never let him get more than two consecutive snaps at quarterback in place of Mark Sanchez.
Tebow, though, refused to be baited afterward into saying he deserves or wants more playing time. He continues to play the role of good soldier, even as the crowd chanted his name following Sanchez’s critical interceptions just before halftime and at the end of the game.
“Going in, I had no idea,” Tebow said when asked if he was expecting a bigger role. “I just try to be ready at all times.”
Tebow deflected a question on whether he wants a bigger role.
“When you’re in there, you get more of a rhythm,” he said. “But I kind of had this experience my freshman year at Florida, so I’m used to it.”
With the Jets now 2-3 and Sanchez coming off another sub-par performance (he completed just 14 of his 31 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown last night, albeit with a patchwork receiving corps), the calls from some quarters for Tebow to take over the offense full time — starting as soon as this Sunday against the Colts — will no doubt increase.
At least publicly, Tebow intends to keep quiet and let the situation come to him.
“I’ll just stay ready and do whatever they ask me to do,” he said.